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roots around for the last cracker (which would have gone to Kips) and opens it as well, finding the last cheque, meaning that the
Divisionnaire must hold the bomb. While Fischer torments the Divisionnaire for his cowardice, Jones offers to buy the Divisionnaire's cracker for two million francs. Over Fischer's objections, Jones takes the fatal cracker and runs off into the snow, where he opens the cracker to find nothing. Steiner suddenly wanders up to Jones, saying he came to confront Fischer and to spit in his face. Fischer arrives and after a brief conversation about whether he has achieved his goals with his experiment, says that it is "time to sleep" but heads away from the house. A few moments later, Jones and Steiner hear a crack, and rush off to find Fischer, who has shot himself with a revolver.
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especially Mrs
Montgomery, who passes off Fischer's bomb threat as playful, untrue banter. The other Toads begin to take the crackers; a hack actor named Deane, immediately goes into a role from one of his movies as a soldier volunteering for a dangerous mission, rambling dialogue to himself while he stands near the bucket. Two other Toads, the widow Montgomery and the accountant Belmont, rush up and draw their crackers, realising that the odds favour the earlier selectors. Both draw crackers with cheques inside. Deane finally snaps out of his delusion long enough to draw a cracker, and when he finds a cheque inside, he passes out from either shock or inebriation.
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243:, where enormous bonfires keep the guests warm around Fischer's lawn. The meal is exquisite. Following dinner, Dr. Fischer explains the rules for that night's experiment. He has hidden six crackers in a bran tub. Inside five of them are cheques for two million francs apiece, with the name left blank. Inside the sixth is a small bomb. The guests are expected to draw crackers and open them one by one.
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At the party, Fischer and his guests explain some of the rules: If a guest follows all the rules, he or she receives a present (or prize) at the end of the meal. The presents are usually tailored to each guest and are worth a substantial amount of money. However, the rules include complete submission
246:
One of the Toads, a stooped man named Kips, says that gambling is immoral and refuses to take part, leaving the party instead, and leaving Jones to consider that it is only Kips and himself who take the Doctor's threat of a bomb in the last cracker seriously; the other Toads seem to be disbelieving,
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At this particular party, the dinner consists solely of porridge. One guest asks for sugar, but
Fischer only provides salt. Fischer explains to Jones that the guests must eat the porridge to receive their presents, and that this is all part of his experiment to see how far the rich will go to debase
196:
Anna-Luise is estranged from her father, the
Fischer of the book's title. Jones goes to see Fischer to inform him that he and Anna-Luise are married, but Fischer is indifferent to the information. Later, however, he invites Jones to one of his dinner parties; Anna-Luise warns Jones not to go, saying
254:
The novel ends with Jones saying that he is no longer considering suicide and has even struck up a small friendship with
Steiner where the two meet for coffee and mourn their lost loves. Jones says he rarely sees any of the Toads and avoids Geneva for the most part; he did once see Mrs. Montgomery,
250:
This leaves just Jones and the retired military officer, the
Divisionnaire. The Divisionnaire takes a cracker but won’t open it. Jones, still considering suicide as a way to avoid his lonely future, takes a cracker, opens it, and finds a cheque. The Divisionnaire remains paralysed by fear, so Jones
216:. When Fischer found out, he paid Kips’ firm fifty thousand francs to fire the man, and then hounded his wife until she "willed herself" to die. Jones and Anna-Luise encounter the man, Steiner, in a local record shop, and Anna-Luise's resemblance to her mother (Anna) gives Steiner a heart attack.
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season is over because she wouldn’t want to ski while pregnant. The two go on a skiing trip, and while Jones (who doesn’t ski) waits in the lodge, Anna-Luise collides with a tree after swerving to avoid a young boy who had sprained his ankle while skiing a course that was too tough for him. She
235:
The next day he responds to an invitation to visit
Fischer in his office. Fischer offers to give Jones the money held in trust for Anna-Luise, but Jones refuses it. Fischer is surprised, and asks Jones to attend his next dinner party with the Toads, which he promises will be the last.
29:
185:. Jones is a widower when he meets the young Anna-Luise Fischer in a local restaurant. Jones is surprised to learn that Anna-Luise is the daughter of Dr Fischer, who has become rich after inventing a perfumed
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suffers a severe head injury and bleeds enough to stain the front of her white sweater red. She later dies at the hospital, leaving Jones broken and lonesome. He attempts suicide by drinking
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themselves for more riches. The guests all eat the porridge except for Jones, who earns himself the enmity of the Toads by abstaining. Jones doesn’t receive another invitation for some time.
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Anna-Luise
Fischer: The daughter of the title’s Dr Fischer and wife of narrator Alfred Jones. She despises her father for the way he treats people, especially how he treated her late mother.
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Anna-Luise fills Jones in on the dissolution of her parents’ marriage. Her mother had developed a friendship with an employee of Mr Kips, one of the Toads, based on their mutual love of
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Steiner: The former love interest of Mrs
Fischer, now a clerk in a Geneva record store. Steiner was fired by Mr Kips after Dr Fischer found out about his friendship with Mrs. Fischer.
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Dr
Fischer: A fabulously wealthy man who made his fortune via the invention of perfumed toothpaste. Fischer is a widower who throws dinner parties to humiliate his rich guests.
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The story is narrated by Alfred Jones, a translator for a large chocolate company in Switzerland. Jones, in his 50s, lost his left hand while working as a fireman during
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Kips: A secretive man with a severely deformed spine that causes him to stoop so far that he faces the ground. He appears to be involved in arms smuggling.
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Mrs Montgomery: A wealthy widow who can never remember Jones’ name and keeps calling him “Smith.” She is the only female guest at the dinner parties.
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This party, the "Bomb Party" of the novel's alternative title, fills the longest chapter of the book. The party is held outside sometime around
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that these parties are nothing more than an opportunity for her father to humiliate the rich sycophants (whom she calls “the Toads,” her
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The Divisionnaire: A retired Swiss military officer, sometimes mistakenly called “The General” by his fellow dinner party guests.
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to the humiliations of Fischer, which always include barbed verbal taunts that focus on each guest’s failings or insecurities.
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Alfred Jones: The narrator, a widower in his 50s with a glove over his artificial left hand. He marries Anna-Luise Fischer.
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for “toadies”) in his coterie. Jones goes anyway when Anna-Luise relents, saying that one dinner party can’t corrupt him.
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Meanwhile, he and Anna-Luise discuss having children, but she says she would prefer to wait until after the
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Deane: A former pin-up actor whose looks are fading. He is a guest at the dinner parties.
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who called him “Mr Smith,” allowing Jones to pretend he didn’t hear her and walk away.
173:. The eponymous party has been examined as an example of a statistical search problem.
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Belmont: A tax accountant and guest at the dinner parties.
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and whose dinner parties are famous (or infamous) around
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Getting to Know the General: The Story of an Involvement
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Getting to Know the General: The Story of an Involvement
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22:Doctor Fischer of Geneva or The Bomb Party
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169:(1980) is a novel by the English novelist
166:Doctor Fischer of Geneva or The Bomb party
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1221:Films based on works by Graham Greene
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297:The novel was made into a TV film,
313:as Anna-Luise. It was directed by
305:(in his last role) as Dr Fischer,
293:Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
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1236:British novels adapted into films
232:, but it only leaves him drowsy.
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933:The Invisible Japanese Gentlemen
740:A World of My Own: A Dream Diary
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858:The Last Word and Other Stories
347:, ed. G. Wright & P. Ayton
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850:May We Borrow Your Husband?
791:The Return of A. J. Raffles
16:1980 novel by Graham Greene
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646:The Captain and the Enemy
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343:, Falk et al 1994; ch15,
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815:For Whom the Bell Chimes
689:In Search of a Character
622:Doctor Fischer of Geneva
1206:Novels by Graham Greene
1038:The Heart of the Matter
966:The Future's in the Air
530:The Heart of the Matter
514:The Power and the Glory
506:The Confidential Agent
345:Subjective Probability
1231:The Bodley Head books
1126:The End of the Affair
1046:The End of the Affair
775:The Complaisant Lover
550:The End of the Affair
411:and their adaptations
358:Dr. Fischer of Geneva
309:as Alfred Jones, and
299:Dr. Fischer of Geneva
1226:Novels set in Geneva
1110:The Honorary Consul
1094:Travels with My Aunt
877:The End of the Party
673:Journey Without Maps
598:Travels with My Aunt
522:The Ministry of Fear
315:Michael Lindsay-Hogg
301:, in 1985, starring
1211:1980 British novels
926:A Shocking Accident
606:The Honorary Consul
450:Rumour at Nightfall
339:1 July 2012 at the
33:First edition cover
23:
1134:The Quiet American
1070:The Quiet American
998:Went the Day Well?
842:A Sense of Reality
834:Twenty-One Stories
558:The Quiet American
482:The Bear Fell Free
466:It's a Battlefield
442:The Name of Action
145:PZ3.G8319 Do 1980b
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1118:Monsignor Quixote
1078:Our Man in Havana
990:This Gun for Hire
905:Alas, Poor Maling
898:Across the Bridge
891:The Basement Room
826:Story collections
681:The Lawless Roads
630:Monsignor Quixote
574:Our Man in Havana
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76:Publication place
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1184:
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1169:Shades of Greene
1102:The Human Factor
1006:Ministry of Fear
799:The Great Jowett
783:Carving a Statue
767:The Potting Shed
614:The Human Factor
582:A Burnt-Out Case
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177:Plot summary
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303:James Mason
228:laced with
199:malapropism
1216:1985 films
1200:Categories
1062:Saint Joan
807:Yes and No
321:References
307:Alan Bates
259:Characters
187:toothpaste
407:Works by
183:The Blitz
65:Published
1187:Category
921:" (1954)
914:" (1954)
907:" (1940)
900:" (1938)
893:" (1936)
886:" (1930)
879:" (1929)
337:Archived
133:823/.912
49:Language
982:21 Days
545:; 1949)
543:novella
230:aspirin
226:whiskey
120:6273193
79:England
52:English
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1163:(play)
1145:(2010)
1137:(2002)
1129:(1999)
1121:(1985)
1113:(1983)
1105:(1979)
1097:(1972)
1089:(1967)
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786:(1964)
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762:(1953)
743:(1992)
735:(1984)
727:(1980)
719:(1971)
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692:(1961)
684:(1939)
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657:(2005)
649:(1988)
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633:(1982)
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445:(1930)
437:(1929)
426:Novels
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221:skiing
214:Mozart
191:Geneva
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95:140 pp
39:Author
1153:Other
950:Films
751:Plays
92:Pages
68:1980
60:Novel
57:Genre
363:IMDb
114:OCLC
101:ISBN
361:at
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